Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

but was found to be false *, and was looked on as an artifice of the emperor's to keep up a jealousy between those two courts. By such practices he prevailed on Thirleby to assure the king, that the emperor did not design to enslave Germany, but only to repress the insolence of some princes, and to give justice a free course: all the news he wrote from thence did run in this strain; so that Germany was fatally abandoned by both kings. Yet still the king sent over to the emperor repeated complaints of the ill-treatment his subjects met with in Spain from inquisitors; and that in many courts justice was refused to be done them, upon this pretence, that the king and all who adhered to him were declared heretics, and as such they were excommunicated by the pope, and so were not to be admitted to sue in judicatories: these were sent over to Thirleby, but I do not see what was done upon all those representations.

The last message the king sent to the Germans was in the year 1546, by Mount, with whom one Butler was joined: the German princes, in general terms, prayed the king to insist on rejecting the council of Trent, assuring him that the pope would suffer no reformation to be made. This letter was agreed to by the greater number of the princes of the union, only the elector of Saxony had conceived great prejudices against the king. He said, "he was an impious man, with whom he desired to have no commerce: he was no better than the pope, whose yoke he had thrown off only for his own ends: and that he intended out of the two religions to make a third, only for enriching himself; having condemned the principal points of their doctrine in his parliament.'

I find at this time a secret disgust the emperor was in towards his brother Ferdinand; upon which Ferdinand sent a message to the king, setting forth the just claim he had to his father's succession in Spain; since, by the agreement of the marriage between Ferdinand of Arragon and Isabel of Castile, a special provision was made, that whensoever there was a second son issuing from that marriage, the kingdom of Arragon, and all that belonged to it, should be again separated from Castile. He also pretended, that he ought to have had a larger share in the succession of the house of Burgundy; and that instead of those rich provinces, he was forced to accept of Austria, and the princes about it, which lay exposed to the Turks, and were loaded with great debts, contracted by his grandfather Maximilian. To this the king sent an answer secretly, and ordered the person (who he was, does not appear; but I think it was Mount), that

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

carried it, to insist on the discourse of his pretensions to the Netherlands, which were then vastly rich. He was particularly required to observe Ferdinand's behaviour, and all that he said on that subject: and it seems that our court, being then in a good understanding with the court of France, communicated the matter to Francis: for he wrote, soon after that, a letter to Ferdinand, encouraging him to stand on his claim, and promising him his assistance to support his pretensions on the emperor. But Ferdinand, not being inclined to trust the court of France with this secret, sent the letter to the emperor: so I see no more of that

matter.

The last transaction of importance in this reign was the fall of the duke of Norfolk, and of the earl of Surrey his son. I find in the council-book, in the year 1543, that the earl was accused for eating flesh in Lent, without licence; and for walking about the streets in the night, throwing stones against windows, for which he was sent to the Fleet. In another letter, he is complained of for riotous living. Towards the end of the year 1546, both he and his father were put in prison; and it seems the council wrote to all the king's ambassadors beyond sea an account of this, much aggravated, as the discovery of some very dangerous conspiracy; which they were to represent to those princes in very black characters. I put in the Collection (No. lxxiii) an account given by Thirleby of what he did upon it. The letter is long; but I only copy out that which relates to this pretended discovery: dated from Hailbron, on Christmasday, 1546.

"He understood, by the council's letters to him, what ungracious and ungrateful persons they were found to be. He professes, he ever loved the father, for he thought him a true servant to the king: he says, he was amazed at the matter, and did not know what to say. God had not only on this occasion, but on many others, put a stop to treasonable designs against the king, who (next to God) was the chief comfort of all good men: he enlarges much on the subject, in the style of a true courtier. The messenger brought him the council's letters, written on the 15th of December, on Christmas-eve; in which he saw the malicious purpose of these two ungracious men: so, according to his orders, he went immediately to demand audience of the emperor; but the emperor intended to repose himself for three or four days, and so had refused audience to the nuncio, and to all other ambassadors; but he said, he would send a secretary, to whom he might communicate his business. Joyce, his secretary, coming to him, he set forth the matter as pompously as the council had represented it to him. In particu

lar, he spoke of the haughtiness of the earl of Surrey; of all which the secretary promised to make report to the emperor, and likewise to write an account of it to Granville. Thirleby excuses himself that he durst not write of this matter to the king: he thought it would renew in him the memory of the ingratitude of these persons, which must wound a noble heart."

After so black a representation, great matters might be expected: but I have met with an original letter of the duke of Norfolk's to the lords of the council (Collect. No. lxxiv), writ indeed in so bad a hand, that the reading it was almost as hard as deciphering. It gives a very different account of that matter, at least with relation to the father. He writes, "that the lord great chamberlain, and the secretary of state, had examined him upon divers particulars: the first was, Whether he had a cipher with any man? he said, he had never a cipher with any man, but such as he had for the king's affairs, when he was in his service. And he does not remember that ever he wrote in cipher, except when he was in France, with the lord great master that now is, and the Lord Rochford: nor does he remember whether he wrote any letters then or not; but these two lords signed whatsoever he wrote. He heard, that a letter of his was found among bishop Fox's papers, which being showed to the bishop of Duresme, he advised to throw it into the fire. He was examined upon this: he did remember the matter of it was, the setting forth the talk of the northern people, after the time of the commotions; but that it was against Cromwell and not at all against the king (so far did they go back, to find matter to be laid to his charge): but whether this was in cipher, or not, he did not remember. He was next asked, if any person had said to him, that if the king, the emperor, and the French king came to a good peace, whether the bishop of Rome would break that by his dispensation; and whether he inclined that way. He did not remember he had ever heard any man speak to that purpose: but, for his own part, if he had twenty lives, he would rather spend them all, than that the bishop of Rome should have any power in this kingdom again. He had read much history, and knew well how his usurpation began and increased and both to English, French, and Scots, he has upon all occasions spoken vehemently against it. He was also asked, if he knew any thing of a letter from Gardiner and Knevet, the king's ambassadors at the emperor's court, of a motion made to them for a reconciliation with that bishop, which was brought to the king at Dover, he being then there.

"In answer to this he writes, he had never been with the king at Dover since the duke of Richmond died but for any such overture, he had never heard any thing of it; nor did any person ever mention it to him. It had been said in council, when Sir Francis Bryan was like to have died, as a thing reported by him, that the bishop of Winchester had said, he could devise a way to set all things right between the king and the bishop of Rome. Upon which, as he remembers, Sir Ralph Sadler was sent to Sir Francis, to ask the truth of that, but Sir Francis denied it; and this was all that ever he heard of any such overture. It seems these were all the questions that were put to him; to which those were his answers. He therefore prayed the lords to intercede with the king, that his accusers might be brought face to face, to say what they had against him: and he did not doubt, but it should appear he was falsely accused. He desired to have no more favour than Cromwell had; he himself being present when Cromwell was examined. He adds, Cromwell was a false man; but he was a true, poor gentleman he did believe some false man had laid some great thing to his charge. He desired, if he might not see his accusers, that he might at least know what the matters were ; and if he did not answer truly to every point, he desired not to live an hour longer.

"He had always been pursued by great enemies about the king; so that his fidelity was tried like gold. If he knew wherein he had offended, he would freely confess it. On Tuesday, in the last Whitsun-week, he moved the king, that a marriage might be made between his daughter (the duchess of Richmond) and Sir Thomas Seymour; and that his son Surrey's children might, by cross-marriages, be allied to my lord great chamberlain's children (the earl of Hertford). He appealed to the king, whether his intention in these motions did not appear to be honest. He next reckons up his enemies: Cardinal Wolsey confessed to him at Asher, that he had studied for fourteen years how to destroy him, set on to it by the duke of Suffolk, the marquis of Exeter, and the Lord Sandys, who often told him, that if he did not put him out of the way, he would undo him. When the marquis of Exeter suffered, Cromwell examined his wife more strictly concerning him than all other men; of which she sent him word by her brother, the Lord Mountjoy and Cromwell had often said to himself, that he was a happy man that his wife knew nothing against him, otherwise she would undo him. The late duke of Buckingham, at the bar, where his father sat lord high steward, said, that he himself was the person in the world whom he had hated most,

thinking he had done him ill offices with the king: but he said, he then saw the contrary. Rice, that married his sister, often said, he wished he could find the means to thrust his dagger in him. It was well known to many ladies in the court, how much both his nieces, whom it pleased the king to marry, had hated him: he had discovered to the king that for which his mother-in-law was attainted of misprision of treason. He had always served the king faithfully, but had of late received greater favours of him than in times past: what could therefore move him to be now false to him? A poor man, as I am, yet I am his own near kinsman. Alas! alas! my lords (writes he), that ever it should be thought any untruth to be in me.' He prays them to lay this before the king, and jointly to beseech him, to grant the desires contained in it. So he ends it with such submissions, as he hoped might mollify the king."

Here I must add a small correction, because I promised it to the late Sir Robert Southwell, for whose great worth and virtues I had that esteem which he well deserved. Sir Richard Southwell was concerned in the evidence against the duke of Norfolk he gave me a memorandum, which I promised to remember when I reviewed my History. There were two brothers, Sir Richard and Sir Robert, who were often confounded, an R serving for both their christened names. Sir Richard was a privy-counsellor to Henry the Eighth, King Edward, and Queen Mary: the second brother, Sir Robert, was master of the rolls in the time of Henry the Eighth, and in the beginning of Edward the Sixth. I had confounded these, and in two several places called Sir Richard master of the rolls.

I have now set forth all that I find concerning the duke of Norfolk; by which it appears that he was designed to be destroyed only upon suspicion: and his enemies were put on running far back to old stories, to find some colours to justify so black a prosecution. This was the last act of the king's reign; which, happily for the old duke, was not finished, when the king's death prevented the execution.

Thus I have gone over all those passages in this reign, that have fallen in my way, since I wrote my History. I have so carefully avoided repeating any thing that was in my former work, that I have, perhaps, not made it clear enough, into what parts of it every thing here related ought to be taken in. Nor have I put in my Collection any of those papers that either the Lord Herbert or Mr. Strype had published, one or two only excepted in each of them; but these I put in it, both because I copied them from the originals when I did not reflect on their being published by VOL. III, PARt I.

T

« ZurückWeiter »